PressTV-Statue of Liberty climber pleads not guilty in US

A New York woman who scaled the stone pedestal of the Statue of Liberty to protest US immigration policy pleaded not guilty to trespassing, disorderly conduct and interfering with governmental administration in her first court appearance on Thursday.

Therese Patricia Okoumou, 44, was arrested on Wednesday after she climbed the statue’s pedestal and began a three-hour standoff with police that led to the evacuation of the landmark on the Fourth of July holiday, celebrating US independence.

After her brief arraignment on the three misdemeanor charges, Magistrate Judge Ona Wang ordered Okoumou to be released from federal custody.

Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney in Manhattan, called the hours-long protest a “dangerous stunt” that endangered lives.

“While we must and do respect the rights of the people to peaceable protest, that right does not extend to breaking the law in ways that put others at risk,” Berman said in a statement.